Opponents of a proposed toll road through Gaston County have been working successfully for three years to bury the idea.

On Wednesday, a local lawmaker filed legislation to finally nail the casket shut.

N.C. Rep. Dana Bumgardner, R-Gaston, won election last year on the strength of his opposition to the Garden Parkway. Now he has introduced a bill to kill it. House Bill 134 seeks to permanently remove the authority and funding for what he calls a “pointless road.”

Supporters remain confident it will live to see another day.

“Our position on the Garden Parkway has not changed. It’s critical and it should be built,” said John Kimbrell, president of the Gaston Regional Chamber of Commerce. “We think the parkway will stand on its own merit and benefit the entire state of North Carolina.”

The 22-mile parkway would link I-485 in west Charlotte with I-85 near Bessemer City, at a cost of $800 million to $900 million.

In one form or another, it has been a vision of Gaston County leaders since the 1980s. The state has spent more than $21 million in the last 12 years alone on engineering studies, environmental reviews and other planning.

Mounting legislative opposition and legal challenges of late have put the project in more doubt. But Bumgardner wants to sever the money pipeline that would allow for that.

“I think that Gaston County has been looking for some closure on this issue for some time,” he said. “The only way we’re going to have any is to get a definitive answer one way or another.”

As recently as 2010, all five state legislators then representing Gaston County supported the parkway. But public opposition has since mounted.

Bumgardner’s victory in his Republican House primary last year summed up the lack of support among voters. The parkway was the only major issue on which he and his opponent differed.

State leaders have diverted money for the toll road two years in a row. Last July, the state withdrew applications for two permits that are critical to building the road. A month later, the Southern Environmental Law Center filed a lawsuit to stop the parkway’s construction, alleging state studies about the potential environmental impacts of the construction were flawed.

That lawsuit has yet to be heard in court.

It’s unclear whether the parkway could evolve as a free highway in the future. Rep. John Torbett, R-Gaston, has supported the toll road concept in the past, but said he thinks that would be possible, even if Bumgardner’s bill becomes law.

“I’d be really concerned if a project of this scope that had been looked at for more than 20 years just entirely went away,” said Torbett. “I think it could actually still be built at some point, without it being tolled.”

Bumgardner believes the toll road should be shelved in favor of widening I-85 and making other transportation improvements.

“I’m working toward trying to do something about that,” he said.

Kimbrell said if the fate of the parkway is based on state and regional transportation needs, and not on politics, it will be built.

“It’s an alternate route to I-85,” he said. “For traffic flow in North Carolina, I think it’s vital.”

You can reach Michael Barrett at 704-869-1826 or twitter.com/GazetteMike.

Garden Parkway timeline

1980s – Local leaders first begin to push for a new bridge over the Catawba River and a new highway through southern Gaston County

Early 2000s – Lack of money makes Garden Parkway a toll road project

May 2008 – Sen. David Hoyle helps convince the General Assembly to commit $35 million a year for 40 years to help build the parkway, to cover costs that tolls will not

May 2009 – The state selects a 22-mile route for the road.

June 2011 - Money for the parkway is supposed to begin flowing. But state leaders divert the money to other construction projects deemed more critical.

June 2012 - Funding is diverted for the second consecutive year.

July 2012 – The state withdraws its application for two critical construction permits.

August 2012 – The Southern Environmental Law Center files a lawsuit to stop the parkway’s construction, alleging state studies about the environmental impacts of construction were flawed.